Tag: life

Catch Author Kainaz Jussawalla and chart topper author Arvind Parashar in an exclusive chat on the occasion of his new book release online which also reveals an interesting cover.
Arvind’s first book Kabira was a top seller in November 2015.Since then, his fans have only been growing in width.
Intrigued by the title of his new novel, book one in the series of ‘Messed Up’ But All for Love trilogy…I catch the Dashing Author on a video call, at his pad in Bengaluru, on a relaxed Sunday, over a cup of Darjeeling Tea and latte..

Hey Arvind, what’s the story? The title sounds quite up my street, if you know what I mean?It is a Romance thriller Kai, this is one space that lacks Indian writing and I hope with this novel and more I can provide that to our readers.

Sounds good! Any fun moments writing it ?

Plenty. There was a time, while writing the climax, I had writer’s block. It took me two vacations and six weeks to write those six seven pages. See, this is the kind of fun authors have. Another was, when I had lost my notepad that had a couple of chapters in it. Things like that. In terms of the publishers, it is Srishti publishers, who need no introduction. I am so excited to have bagged this trilogy deal with them.

And well …Who or What has inspired you to write it ? (wink)

First of all, it is mostly a stretch of my imagination. Yes, there are certain funny instances in the novel that have been inspired from real life, however the plot and the overall story is pure fiction. A nice cup of black coffee, beautiful landscape and lovely people in my life- good enough a combination to inspire me to think and write.

I have been noticing your terrific fan following across social media?

Fortunately, I have a pretty engaged set of fans / readers on my pages. I love interacting with them. They always inspire me to write. They love my quotes, pictures, live chats and my books. In fact, they have been waiting eagerly for Messed Up! Book.

Where do you think the future of writing lies in the Indian industry?

It is a great space to be in. Indian writing is now more prominent than ever before. We have new readers who are entering that bracket as we now see, reading and writing is being encouraged in the schools and colleges. So far as the writers go, if you write well, engage well with the readers, you will stay for long.

Where is your first launch for Messed up … when do we expect the release? Am I invited?

We shall do in Bangalore, Mumbai , Kolkata and Delhi. The book is out for pre orders already and has been trending in top 50-100 on amazon bestsellers. It will hit the shelves in the month of May.

Parsis ..we are unique and we are loveable !!!!
I won’t say more !
But I must confess that I love being called crazy
It is my U S P!

Here are some of the things which according to me every Parsi does or has, at least once in their life time.
Please feel free to add more …

Every Parsi must have at least walked out of their home once without their Sudra kusti.Naughty !

OK Every Parsi must have burped at least once, loudly in public.

Every Parsi must have dreamt of a delicious food spread once at least, after just finishing a huge meal.

4. Every Parsi must have at least said once in their life : “I will never be a vegetarian ”
5. Every Parsi must have forgotten their topi or scarf at least once before entering Agyari and had to borrow or pick from old ones stocked on the premises.

6. Every Parsi has a childhood doctor/homeopath, usually some Walla.. who they still want to visit and claim their childhood candies from.

7.Every Parsi loves his Mumma equally, if not more, than his spouse, even on his 25th wedding anniversary!

8. Every Parsi must have sworn at least once in their mother tongue, even if they never use a swear word otherwise. (MC BC Ghadero)

9. Every Parsi would have had one favorite grand parent whom they have thought the world off, living or dead.

10. Every Parsi will have at least one weakness.. if not whisky peg then chicken leg. If not 50 cups of tea a day, then cards to play.

11. Every Parsi may have attended a Lagan(wedding) only to relish the Patra,(meal on a leaf) often forgetting the names of the bride and the groom.

12. Every Parsi must have clapped, danced and rotated on the Birdy dance Song at least once in their lifetime.

13. Every Parsi is related to another with a maximum of four degrees separation.(fact unverified though)

14. Every Parsi has the half conviction or at least a passing thought, that they descend from some kind of royal lineage/ kin.

15. Every Parsi has been called Crazy bawa or bawi at least once, if not more, by their buddies from other communities.

16. Every Parsi at least once must have got their cheeks pulled or called apple/ mango/ dudh pao in school , functions or among relatives.

17. Almost every Parsi can have ‘something per eeda’ (eggs) easily as a meal substitute.

18. Every Parsi Has woken up in the middle of the night in cold sweat thinking about the stains /spots on their cars, sofas, side boards, kitchen tops.

19. Every Parsi, must have skipped the fire temple, at least once in life on a Navroz or New year, only cause they were a tad lazy to.

20. Every Parsi has one friend at least, who makes friends with him only for a dhanshak invite at his place.

21. Every Parsi has at least one of these if not more …in their home : an antique car/ bike / watch/ furniture set / tea set/ book/ gramophone / radio / telephone / countless plastic bags.

22. Every Parsi has laughed uncontrollably and hysterically even if the joke is not funny or on themselves… !

Hope you enjoyed the above points … just written for Bawa entertainment !

I told a friend on the phone,who pleaded with me, to not take the semi rush hour train into town.

“There are other ways to experience this juice or milkshake or whatever you want to,” he tried convincing me but I was adamant.

I needed to get to Churchgate for a Poets Meet that Sunday evening from Bandra and I was hell bent, on not spoiling Uber or Ola with over priced fares that day.

Rs 30 return trip versus Rs 800….Do the math!

I must admit that I haven’t jumped in a local one in very many years. But how bad could it be?

I was glad to discover that the ticket counters were still positioned, where I remembered them last.

Looking for the shortest queue, my eye caught on the one which seemed slightly less intimidating than the rest, ‘Booking Window for physically disabled persons’ it said.

The line seemed to have only women standees which made me slightly irritated; ‘did they think they were handicapped as women?’

Then I realized it was the short, smart way my gender could be using at times to purchase quick tickets and my hesitation turned into silent applause.

I stood there excited, clutching a fifty note, like a five year old about to embark on her first train journey.

Let me add that I have taken plenty of these, in my days at St Xavier’s College,Marine lines; with Rs 100 a week pocket money in place.

Patting myself on the back for remembering where the ‘fast train platform’ was, I walked quick paced, almost missing the swinging lathi that two railway cops were mock scaring the urchins with, on the bridge.

As I stood waiting for the 3.33 pm local to arrive, I sheepishly asked the bystanders where the second class ladies compartment was. They sized me up and down before answering ‘Last Last.’

Which I assumed meant :walk further and you will eventually slip upon it.

I started clicking ferociously on my 16 GB cell phone explaining to a group of giggling girls that it was for my blog and they asked curiously,”Kya aap foreign se aye ho?”(are you from abroad?)

I began to show off my minuscule Marathi skills; it seemed to turn on some laughing gas switch in their system and I was thankful that my train had drawn closer.

Everyone around me seemed to be geared for some action.

I believe that shoving each other before time of this action, can be totally avoided, if we all formed one neat, straight line, in a civilized manner.

How hard was it? Didn’t we do it on the London underground?

I decided to impart this; I would teach everyone to do things in an organised way, for that day at least!

“Go easy, form a line, don’t push. Let the ladies with the kids go first….” I started to request the confused and flustered faces around me.

Soon, my red P cap had somersaulted on the floor, my ray bans in my hands, as two boxy women shoved me hard, “What are you waiting for princess?” they howled in Hindi, agitated that I was not pushing ahead of order, before the train had come to a halt

Having no opportunity to quip back, I quickly joined the mass struggle, realizing that if I didn’t, I would be camping on Bandra platform until dusk.

Phew! I just about made it, tasting parachute strands in my mouth and an armpit in my face.

Well I did say I wanted to experience the juice of life, did I not?

Not to miss a photo moment(yes yes for my blog) I started once again to shoot random faces around me, startling the others sardines who are as tightly packed as me in the overcrowded tiny space.

Dadar brought a welcome vacuum and when I could breathe once again; I continued with more selfies.

I contemplated buying some ‘My colour, Rs 20 each only !’ … And there were so many interesting colors for grabs.

The stern face of my manicurist appeared out of nowhere, “Yellow cuticles madam you will get; only OPI products you must use.” He wins. Plan cancelled.

Snappy Music in the background did I hear? Oh we have progressed!

In house Bollywood entertainment?

Brief second of glee was cut short; it turned out to be an audio advert for Badshaah masala pav bhaji ka masala, etc etc.

Got me wondering if I should make a catchy jingle for my forth coming novel too and let it sing in local trains? Clever gimmick, worth considering.

As Grant road station approached….it dawned to me that I haven’t made any friends yet. I looked around. What could a possible ice breaker be on a twenty minute weekend train ride?

I smiled at the neatly plaited lady at the far left corner, she looked amicable.

I went over and took a seat; she looked at me a tad suspiciously like most around did.

“Do any of you have a hand sanitizer?”I finally questioned the trio opposite me.

My O.C.D. had kicked in as I had a flash image of being bathed in railway germs.

One of them stammered as she asked me, what it was?

I gave them a brief: ‘We touch things in trains like seats, handles, doors, even currency notes. When was the last time, all of you, cleaned your hands?’

My reply seemed to make her spring from her perch and hang her head out of the door.

The other two started talking in low whispers, avoiding eye contact in an obvious manner.

Okay, I got it …I was going to leave that train with no new friends or fans and failing to impart my hygiene concerns.

On my return trip post seven pm, I purposefully sat in a quiet corner all by myself, staring outside….Counting the number of trains that crossed us and thinking about the poetry reading session I had just attended.

Poets they say are highly intelligent people who have a depth beyond common understanding.

I had clearly established at the attended reading, that I was definitely not one of them.

I don’t recall being carried away into a beautiful world of poetic beauty or literature, ever….

But that did not mean that I could not get carried away elsewhere. In this case- to Andheri; which happened to be five stops away from where I was supposed to originally skip off.

Eventually, I called it a night as I hopped off the carriage, on to the wrong platform and apped for an Uber straight back home.

That you should have just grabbed that opportunity when it was right in front of your face?

That you woke up a bit too late in the day, only to realize everyone else seem to have moved miles ahead?

If only you had made the right decisions at the right time or taken the traditional path of meeting timelines, of what the world perceived them to be?

Hold your breath, for there is only good news for you!

I am a great believer of the phrase,

‘Life can only be understood backwards but it must be lived

forwards…’

Therefore by that rule of thumb, more the delay- more the wisdom and knowledge and smoother the path ahead…..

Here are ten reasons why it’s not only all right to kick start your life late in the day; but how it may actually work out in your favour:

Lots of people have started late.

Relax you are not alone in this delayed boat. In fact you have several geniuses for company.

-Van Gogh didn’t start painting till he was in his late twenties.

-Dave McClure of Angel Investor, until forty, did no investing.

-Culinary Wiz Anthony Bourdain was not thriving till he was 44.

-Winston Churchill failed school three times.

-Most Presidents and Prime ministers only become such when they are at the second half of their lives.

And hey, Prince Charles is still waiting to be King!

It gives you time to really know what you want.

Stats show that 36 percent of divorces that take place are between couples who tied the knot between the age of 20 and 28 years of age.

After all, it is a bit tricky to decide on who’s a better match when one has narrowed the options in a smaller time frame?

Stats also show 30 percent of people switch careers between the ages of 34 to 36.

What starts off as the obvious road to financial stability or first job availability in their twenties, may not be anything close to the conditions one might enjoy working in, in their thirties or forties.

It gives you time to pursue your hobbies

By not being ambitious enough or goal oriented, you may be targeted as an imbecile by Corporate buffs but how many of them can boast of having the luxury of passionately enjoying a leisurel pursuit such as painting, journaling or a game of tennis?

Maybe, if they set aside a bit of weekend time yes, but those are very few and far between.

Time, effort and energy may assure them a place on top of the ladder but leaves them with very little time to enjoy the medals of their hard work. As they say, ‘Even if you win the rat race, you are still a rat…’

Big and smart decisions can be made when you are ready.

Choice of career, choice of life partner and choice of the kind of person you want to be twenty years from now are much likelier to work out in your favour when you have the solid experience to back it Up with. Besides taking responsibility for your own actions, seems effortless and gratifying when you are ready.

It builds character.

When you pull a late one, it makes you look beyond the superficial, it makes you empathetic to those who are still struggling and it lures you to question life in a depth that you may have missed out on doing, had you caught the earlier tide.

As you feel more comfortable in your own skin and don’t care of what the world thinks of you, you find that self confidence to actually believe in yourself and even motivate others to do the same.

You become your own best friend

You don’t need any one else’s validation or approval and sometimes you don’t even need company.

Booking a table for one at that place you feel like experimenting at, having a coffee and befriending strangers, catching that flick you wanted to see whether someone is free to watch it with you or not; It all comes easier when there is an underlying value of having lead a distinctive life from everyone else.

Late bloomers will always choose the path they have forgotten.

There is no time for bullshit. With only that much of life span left, no late latif in his or her right mind will waste time on doing things they don’t like, for example attending boring events or indulging in draining conversations and pursuing interests that don’t appeal to them.

They hopefully won’t even throw it away on emotions that are obsolete.

The Late Clan will usually bring their A game to the table, for they know and understand the significance of losing time more than anyone else.

Read more such interesting late bloomer stories of successful people at: